The Giju Run

“Yes, my lady,” Wes said as he gave his master a bow.

“Good, now go. I must… assist the captain in case there is any more information she may have,” Lady Mutaria said as she moved towards the door to the interrogation room. Wes turned and headed towards the door that lead to the hallway but stopped right before he left.

“Have fun, master!” Wes said.

“Oh, I will, dear apprentice, I will. Get me this artifact and I assure you that you will like the reward that is given to you,” said the lady of the Dark Side before she left through the door. Wes followed suit through his own door and headed towards the hanger bay.

“Droid, do you read me?” Wes asked as he spoke into his communicator.

“O-oh, of course, master!” replied the 2V-T9. “Would you like me to prep the ship for launch?” asked the droid, anticipating the requests of its new master.

“Yes. Prepare for launch when I get to the ship. We are heading to the planet Giju,” Wes informed his droid.

“Ah yes, home world of the herglics. Be warned, master, the herglics are large creatures, normally being between 1.7 and 2.2 meters in height. While you are a great Sith, their sheer size and numbers may be able to overwhelm you,” the droid warned its master.

“Hmm. That big, eh? They will make an excellent challenge. Either way, if we just go in our Fury Interceptor, we should be able to sneak in. We just have to hurry and get those scientists before they manage to get picked up by the Republic!” Wes told the droid as he waited in the turbolift for it to finally reach the hanger bay.

“My lord, for what do we owe the pleasure?” asked the deck commander as he saw the Sith step out of the turbolift.

“My master has given me a mission. I am to depart right away. My droid has already prepped my ship,” Wes told the Imperial soldier as the two walked to his ship.

“Of course, my lord. I shall clear the bay for you to launch,” said the man as he turned and addressed the others in the hanger bay. “Alright, we have an emergency launch Priority Alpha! Get the hanger open and get the grav shields up! Let’s go, go, go!” he ordered as his men began to quickly get his orders done.

Wes made his way up his ship’s ramp and into the cockpit of the starship. 2V-T9 was already in the cockpit fast at work. Wes took his seat in the captain’s seat and turned to the droid.

“Status?”

“Engines are prepped and the destination is already loaded into the hyperdrive, master! All we must do is get clear of the ship and we will be able to jump to hypersapce,” replied the droid as he continued to fiddle with the control panel in front of him.

“Excellent. Then let us leave,” Wes said as he closed the ship’s ramp and began to take off. The marshaler waved his batons to indicate that Wes’ ship was cleared to launch. Wes lifted the ship off the ground and went through the grav shield and into open space. The ship quickly got far enough away from the Valtricous to enter hyperspace. Wes watched as the familiar sight of the stars outside his window slowly faded into blurred lines as his ship entered hyperspace.

“Master, would you like more information on the planet we are visiting?” the droid asked Wes. Wes mauled over the thought but decided that only a fool would go to a planet without any sort of background knowledge.

“Fine, let’s here what you have to say,” Wes told the droid.

“Very well, master. As I’ve previously explained, Giju is home to the herglics, an aquatic mammalian species that has evolved to live outside their oceanic routes. Their planet is mostly water with various islands dotting the surface as well as two frozen poles. The herglics themselves are rather large creatures, with only wookies being of similar build. The planet is actually one of the Colonies Region’s main industrial planet. I should warn you, master, that we’ll be deep into Republic territory,” 2V warned Wes.

“Yes, I know. But the artifact master wants is on that planet and so that’s where we’ll go. Now continue on with your explanation,” Wes told 2V, who continued on with the explanation.

“As you wish, master. There will most likely be various cargo ships in orbit for transport. We will most likely have to land on an official-”

“No. We’ll fly down and you’ll drop me off close to one of the pads and I’ll sneak aboard. You’ll find an abandoned island and stay there until I call you, got it?” Wes told 2V.

“Of course, master. We can do that. I’ll wait excitedly for your call to pick you up so we can go back to the safety of the Empire!” the droid said in a rather happy tone. “Anything else?” asked the droid as he continued to monitor their route.

“No, that shall be all. I must prepare for this mission. Let me know when we are about to leave hyperspace,” Wes told 2V as he got up from his seat and made his way to the cargo hold of the ship. Wes made his way to a storage locker and rifled through the contents. “Come on, where are they? They should be in every ship’s storage lockers. After a few minutes of rifling through various shelves in the locker, Wes finally found what he was looking for: re-breathers and a grappling gun. “Ok, this should help me get to the platforms. Next I got to find the scientists, get the artifact, and get back to the ship. Should be easy,” Wes said to psych himself up as he made his way back to the bridge.

“Ah, master! You have impeccable timing! We are just about to drop out of hyperspace!” 2V said to Wes as he sat down in his chair and watched as the ship came out of hyperspace. The sight that Wes and 2V saw as they exited hyperspace was something they were not expecting.